Dr Who's grandson ready to exterminate opposition

By Robert Philip

12:01AM BST 12 May 2003

When your grandfather has defeated the Daleks and scattered the Cybermen, the prospect of engaging battle with Australian cricketers is unlikely to send you cowering behind the sofa in terror. They may be a dastardly enemy but by the time the next Ashes series comes round, there is every chance England's hopes of victory against the fearsome forces from Down Under may be boosted by a new weapon in the shape of Jim Troughton's trusty willow.

The grandson of the second Dr Who, the late Patrick Troughton, the Warwickshire middle-order, left-handed batsmen is one of the most exciting young run-makers in the land and a near- certainty, according to Alec Stewart, to make his international one-day debut this summer despite having played only one full season at county level. Master Troughton finished 2002 with a first-class average of more than 50 and has begun the current campaign in equally flamboyant style, attracting the attention of the England selectors with his vast repertoire of strokes.

"I'm the black sheep of the family because I turned my back on the stage," he explained during the lunch interval at Edgbaston, where he scored 41 in Warwickshire's first-innings total of 452 against Sussex. "Granddad was one of the most famous faces on television, my dad [David] is an actor as is my older brother, Sam, and my younger brother is studying drama at university."

Before embarking on a sporting career, Jim Troughton also trod the boards, continuing the family tradition by appearing in several productions at The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. "That makes it sound rather grander than it was. Every Christmas for the last 15 years or so, my parents have put on a charity recital and I tend to get roped in, which is great fun. People have pointed out that I have performed in the same theatre as Sir Laurence Olivier but I wouldn't quite put it like that. We do poetry and prose readings, sing a few songs, that kind of thing. I certainly don't see myself as a King Lear, or even a Vinnie Jones."

Forty-seven years ago, Patrick Troughton was himself a highly respected Shakespearian actor when he was chosen to replace William Hartnell in the role, the original doctor stumbling shakily into the Tardis to mumble his last words "This old body of mine is wearing a bit thin . . ." before undergoing the first of his frequent regenerative metamorphoses.

As his faithful companions, Ben and Holly, looked on in horror, the white-haired, professorial Hartnell was transmogrified before their eyes into a mischievous imp who would greet the arriving sounds of 'Exterminate, exterminate . . .' by gaily playing a tune on his recorder.

Like 'Who Shot J R?', this transformation from dignified wise old owl to fun-loving eccentric captured the imagination of television viewers as never before, even if Patrick Troughton's sudden emergence sparked much controversy. "What have you done to Dr Who?" an outraged Mrs Estelle Hawken thundered from the letters' page of the Radio Times. "Of all the stupid nonsense! Why turn such a wonderful character into Coco the Clown?"

Oh, how fickle our affections be; by the time Patrick Troughton handed over the keys of the Tardis to Dr Who No 3, Jon Pertwee, three years later in 1969, he had become the most beloved Time Lord of them all.

"I'm only 24 so even at school no-one knew me as 'Dr Who's grandson'. Because I grew up in Stratford, I think people were far more impressed by my dad who was a well-known figure in the town. But I'm very proud of granddad and if his name helps bring me a little bit of attention, then that can only be of help. It's still nice to see his face popping up whenever The Omen or Jason and the Argonauts is shown on television."

For the present, however, it is Jim Troughton who is setting forth on his own adventures at Edgbaston, where a stroll round the county's impressive museum shows that he, too, has some impressive predecessors to follow: Eric Hollies, who bowled Don Bradman for a duck in his last innings, thereby denying the Great One a Test average of 100; Mike Smith, captain of England on 25 occasions; Dennis Amiss; Bob Willis; Lance Gibbs, the ultimate 'spin doctor'; South African paceman Allan Donald; Rohan Kanhai; Brian Lara.

The weight of both history and expectation are not lost on Troughton. "My maternal great-grandfather, Henry Crichton, played for Warwickshire in the early 1900s, so it's reassuring to know I'm not the first cricketer in the family. Obviously, I'd love to play for England but there are so many good young batsmen at Edgbaston, it's hard enough just keeping your place in the county side. Look at Jonathan Trott, who came in for Nick Knight at the top of the order today and scored 134, the first Warwickshire player to score a century on his debut since Brian Lara nine years ago."

Having attended a non-cricketing school, Troughton harboured early ambitions of becoming a professional footballer, joining Stoke City as a youth team player. "I'm reliably informed my dad took me to Lord's to see Ian Botham one time but I was too young to remember, so my sporting heroes were Bryan Robson and Maradona.

"One of my biggest thrills was being invited to Bobby Charlton's summer soccer school at Old Trafford. But I was a late developer size-wise, so I grew weary of being used as a human football by the bigger lads. I suppose I was about 13 when I went along for a knock in the nets at Stratford, just to keep my brother company more than anything, and discovered how much I enjoyed cricket. Looking back, I think it actually helped not playing at school because unless you're at a public school the facilities just aren't there. And so, as a teenager I learned to play against men - 6ft 5in blacksmiths and the like - which really toughened me up."

Following his highly-impressive opening season for Warwickshire during which he was awarded his county cap, Troughton was selected by Rod Marsh to join the England Academy's winter tour to Australia and Sri Lanka, where he scored two centuries, a trip he would relish making with the full international XI.

"It was a fabulous experience although I missed the first couple of matches in Oz owing to shin splints. As everyone knows, they really love their cricket in Sri Lanka so the atmosphere at the matches was totally unlike anything I'd ever encountered before.

"As a cricketer, it's a obviously a tremendous learning curve playing on different pitches and facing different styles of bowling but it's also a terrific life experience. If I should go back as a Test player one day, it will stand me in good stead because I'll know exactly what to expect."

The most famous Time Lord of them all once stood at the door of his time-machine and offered the notion: "Nobody in the universe can do what we're doing." It may be stretching the imagination to hope Dr Who's grandson will become the greatest run-machine in the universe, but if he should see off the Aussies one day, he will be a real-life super-hero.